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Caring for Someone with Alzheimer Disease

Alzheimer disease is a type of dementia. Dementia is a condition that impairs a person’s ability to think, concentrate, and remember (cognitive function). According to the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer disease makes up as much as 60% to 80% of all cases of dementia.

Alzheimer disease is a progressive condition. This means that it keeps getting worse. It usually involves memory impairment early on. Over time, people with Alzheimer disease need help with daily activities because they lose the ability to dress, bathe, and feed themselves.

The role of Alzheimer caregivers can be stressful, frightening, and exhausting. But you can also feel great comfort in caring for a loved one who needs you.

Facts about Alzheimer disease

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) says that, although Alzheimer disease usually affects people older than age 65, it’s not a normal part of aging. About 5% of people develop early onset Alzheimer disease, which strikes before age 65 and as early as age 40. Early onset Alzheimer disease is more likely to be genetic and affect other family members.

People with Alzheimer disease often have trouble remembering things. At first, it may be something as small as the date or day of the week. Later, as the disease gets worse, they may not recognize their loved ones.

Alzheimer disease has no cure. But some medicines can help to slow the damage it does to the brain. Medicines can also slow the symptoms. Most people live an average of 8 years after their symptoms become clear. Others can live with the disease for as long as 20 years.

Symptoms

At first, the symptoms of Alzheimer disease may be subtle. They may be dismissed as simple forgetfulness. But over time they get worse. Here are common symptoms of Alzheimer disease:

Often forgetting something you just learned

Trouble concentrating and resolving problems on your own

Trouble doing things you've always known how to do, like driving to familiar places or using simple electronics like the TV remote

Obvious confusion about dates, the time of day, and even the time of year

Problems recognizing colors or reading

Trouble with speech, words, and communicating with others

Losing items and not being able to remember where they are

Being careless with finances and personal hygiene, often showing poor judgment

Becoming more isolated and spending less time with family and friends

Having emotional outbursts or reacting inappropriately in some situations

May lead to hallucinations or delusions, including paranoid ideation

Diagnosis

A healthcare provider can generally diagnose Alzheimer disease by asking questions about symptoms and doing a few tests. These tests can include:

Health history and review of all current medicines

Review of any family history of dementia and Alzheimer disease

Mental status test, which uses standard questions to test a person's awareness, such as the date and time and simple instructions or lists of objects (sometimes more detailed neuropsychological testing is done)

Physical exam, including a neurological exam, to look for other causes of symptoms

MRI scan of the brain

PET scan (with a new tracer agent)

Tests of other family members. In rare cases, Alzheimer disease is genetic.

Researchers are learning about genetic tests that can be done to predict if a person will get Alzheimer disease, the NIA says. These tests are used mainly for research. They can’t reliably tell if a person will get the disease. In some familial types of the disease, certain tests might be of some benefit.

Treatment

The NIA says that while several medicines are available to help slow and manage the symptoms of Alzheimer disease, no medicines can cure it. These are commonly prescribed medicines:

Cholinesterase inhibitors, like donepezil

Memantine

These 2 types of medicines work differently. But they both affect chemicals in the brain related to memory and learning. Some people respond very well to these medicines. Some do not. The improvement with these medicines will usually last for 6 to 18 months.

Caregiver responsibilities

When you're a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer disease, you can help make sure that your loved one does things to stay as emotionally and physically healthy as possible. According to the Alzheimer's Association, a person with Alzheimer disease needs to:

Planning for long-term care (such as a nursing home or special memory care unit) when it becomes necessary

As you care for someone with Alzheimer disease, keep these things in mind:

It's important to take care of yourself. Stay healthy and ask for help from others when you need it.

Be kind, slow, concise, and clear when talking with someone with Alzheimer disease.

Alzheimer disease can cause anger, hostility, violence, and wandering away. You will need to be prepared to deal with these situations.

A time will come when it's no longer safe for a person with Alzheimer disease to drive. You will need to have a difficult conversation about giving up the car keys.

Prevention

Experts don't know how to prevent Alzheimer disease because they don't know exactly what causes it. But exercising your brain by learning new things and challenging yourself may help to keep your brain sharper. A healthy diet and plenty of regular exercise is also thought to help keep your brain healthy.

Finding help

Alzheimer disease can be devastating for the person who has it, family members, and other caregivers. You can get more information, including finding support groups, through the Alzheimer's Association.